Welcome to the award-winning world of Coastal Living Magazine. Many kudos have come our way since the first issue date, May/June 1997, most recently winning Gold in the Eddie Awards, Shelter/Home category, during the 2007 Folio Awards Gala in New York City.
WHO WE ARE
Coastal Living is a lifestyle magazine that occupies a unique and well-defined niche. As stated on every cover, we are "The Magazine for People Who Love the Coast." Our editorial lineup takes readers to homes, destinations, activities, and people along the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf shores of North America. We include Hawaii and Alaska as well as coastal Canada and Mexico. We also visit the multinational Caribbean islands from time to time, and the waterside ways of life along the U.S. Great Lakes. Our rule-of-thumb: With the exception of features on the Great Lakes, or "North Coast," Coastal Living stories spotlight topics within sight, sound, taste, touch, or smell of salt water.
OUR VOICE
A tone of casual sophistication unfolds between the covers of Coastal Living. Regardless of the subject—decorating, entertaining, gardening, travel, nature, or zany beach characters—insider knowledge and ease prevail in the language on our pages. Our syntax welcomes humor but avoids cuteness. Well-balanced and poised, Coastal Living is an accessory on the coffee table, a workhorse in the kitchen, and a friend in the hammock.
VITAL STATS
• Frequency: 10 x per year
• Circulation: 625,000 paid subscribers nationwide
• Readership: 3.4 million (average of 5.03 readers per issue)
• Distribution: 80% subscription; 20% newsstand
• Editorial-to-Advertising Ratio: +/-45 to +/-55
• Publisher: Southern Progress Corporation (SPC), a division of Time Warner
• SPC Editorial Offices: 2100 Lakeshore Drive, Birmingham, AL 35209
• Web site: coastalliving.com
• Word Counts: 500-1,000
PLANNING SCHEDULE
Coastal Living stories are planned 1 year in advance during an annual series of editorial meetings from about November through January. For example, the slate for 2009 is finalized as of January 2008. Flexibility allows some adjustment as the year progresses, but editors generally stick to the plan. That allows time for research, photography, writing, and production. This lead time is particularly crucial if a story has a seasonal angle, such as fall color or holiday decorating.
PRODUCTION SCHEDULE
Depending on the type of article, the deadline for text to be researched, written, and submitted to the assigning editor is 4 to 6 months prior to publication date.
OUR READERS
Subscription renewals and growing newsstand sales tell us that Coastal Living succeeds in transporting people to their dreams. Letters, E-mails, and focus groups reveal countless ways readers use our information to make those dreams come true. Surveys show the average time spent perusing a typical issue is 90 minutes—an impressive statistic in this fast-paced age. Reader characteristics include:
• Gender: 68.8% women; 31.1% men
• Median age: 49.5
• Median household income: $91,675
• Own home: 82.4%
• College-educated: 79.3%
• Geographic location (percentages rounded): South & Southeast—48%; Northeast—14%; West—25%; Midwest—13%.
• Travel frequency: 9 average number of days spent per year for vacation/personal travel per year.
EDITORIAL DEPARTMENTS:
Four overall subject areas (homes, travel, lifestyle, and food & entertaining) define the content of each issue. Divided into features and regular columns, stories depicting each of these areas are included in all three sections of the magazine: front-of-book, well (the middle section, with no advertising), and back-of-book.
The magazine also has special sections—such as ones focusing on summer entertaining and building a coastal home—typically written and produced by staff editors.
Behind every story, in all departments, is the desire to serve our readers—to give them ideas, techniques, or inspiration applicable to their own lives, families, homes, and communities. Woven into our stories is an awareness of nature, the environment, and the importance of coastal conservation. Often those topics form the backbone of a story.
Homes—With a mission to promote comfort, livability, and style, the Homes section makes up more than 50% of editorial. Story focus may be on decorating, building and renovating, architecture, products, community development, or gardens and landscaping. Our tone of casual sophistication is unmistakable here: Informal scenes sport just-right touches of grace and taste; otherwise luxurious locations project a "come in and make yourself at home" personality.
Homes stories are staff- and freelance-written.
Travel—Coastal Living issues a passport to fun in our destination, outdoor activity, nature experience, and lodging and dining stories. We strive for angles that reveal the essential character of a place in fresh and lively ways no other magazine would capture. The sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell of surf and sand are ever-present in text and photography.
A travel/community hybrid is "So You Want to Live In. . . ." This popular column, appearing in every issue, includes many of the earmarks of a travel story because it evokes a sense of place. But it takes the reader beyond what might otherwise be a great weekend getaway spot to the practicalities of year-round life with the resident cast and culture of a specific seaside town or village.
Travel stories are staff- and freelance-written.
Lifestyle—Stories in this category may feature a family or other cluster of people with a common tie, or they may profile an individual person. They also may be hybrids—partly home/partly lifestyle. The latter depicts homeowners, architects, designers, or landscapers pertinent to the homes, gardens, or communities within the story.
Lifestyle columns include:
—"The Good Life," which showcases a person or family with a will to live on the coast and a way to do it.
—"Coastal Character," which portrays one person who may be a quirky local or a semi-celebrity but, either way, is intrinsically connected to the coastal environment.
Lifestyle stories are staff- and freelance-written.
Food & Entertaining—In a word, "convivial" describes our approach to putting food and wine on the table or on the picnic cloth at lively gatherings profiled in each issue’s well section feature. Other columns include:
—"Seafood Primer," a popular what’s it and how-to in each issue. The column highlights a type of (or method of cooking) fish or shellfish.
—"In the Coastal Kitchen," features a roundup of topics from a 30 minute recipe that utilizes ingredients found in the pantry, a new kitchen tool, coastal cookbooks, seafood preparation tips, or a coastal cooking class.
ק"Dinner in a Breeze," offers an easy menu that can be prepared in less than 30 minutes.
NOTE: Recipes in all food features and columns are professionally tested in the Coastal Living kitchens to ensure accuracy and quality.
Food & entertaining stories are staff- and freelance written.
Currents—Encompassing the above subject areas, this section opens every issue of Coastal Living and is home to a variety of short items (25-200 words). Travel news, cool home products, beach fashion, and seaside events are among the topics that populate its pages.
"Currents" is primarily staff-written.
FROM QUERY TO CONTRACT
• No manuscripts, please! Coastal Living does not accept prepared text, but we are happy to consider a well-developed idea expressed in a query letter.
• Winning Queries:
—Indicate that the writer has read our magazine well enough to grasp our style and subject matter.
—Do not propose a topic recently addressed in a published Coastal Living story.
—Present a fresh and surprising angle on a widely acknowledged topic; or present a new story idea that is uniquely suited to Coastal Living.
—Convince our editors that the writer is highly qualified to write on the topic according to his/her experience and familiarity with the subject.
—Express the idea in language that captures and holds our attention.
—Express the idea concisely and limit description to one page or less.
—Include scouting shots or photocopies of photographs. This is mandatory for any query related to home and garden stories.
—Maintain 100% perfect spelling and grammar.
—Are accompanied by clips of published work by the writer unless samples are already on file with Coastal Living. (In the latter case, the cover letter should remind us that we have clips and offer to send more if necessary.)
•Submitting queries: Please make sure to keep a copy of everything you send us. Due to the volume of queries received, we cannot be responsible for lost or misplaced materials, and are unable to guarantee that submissions will be returned even when accompanied by a self-addressed stamped envelope. Mail submissions, queries, and other information to Coastal Living, 2100 Lakeshore Drive, Birmingham, AL 35209. Please do not send unsolicited articles, resumes, or writing samples by e-mail.
Assignments
—Assigning editors will contact the writer if Coastal Living decides to pursue an idea. Specific angle, fees, expenses, and deadlines are discussed. That editor prepares and sends a story-focus sheet to the writer to confirm the story approach.
NOTE: Per the planning process followed by Coastal Living editors (see Planning Schedule), queried ideas typically will be considered on an annual basis for a future editorial lineup. (For example, all 2007 stories are planned by early 2006.)
—The Coastal Living office manager issues a story contract and a Time Inc. Substitute W-9 form; both should be signed and promptly returned by the writer. These documents must be received by the office manager in order for the writer to secure compensation. Accompanying the contract are expense guidelines and a list of items for the writer’s submitted story package to include. (The story Focus Sheet also may be included or may be sent separately—see above.)
FEES
• Coastal Living typically pays $1 per word, plus reasonable expenses (such as transportation, lodging, and dining for travel stories) agreed upon in advance. Compliance of our expense guidelines is mandatory.
• Payment is issued within 4-6 weeks of story acceptance. NOTE: Following story acceptance, the assigning editor may still request text revisions by the writer.
• Kill fees are 25% of the assigned fee, as noted in the contract.
• Finder’s fees are paid when and where pertinent. The range varies according to the story.
PAYMENT
To ensure prompt payment, writers must:
• Meet the deadline specified in the contract.
• Send a complete story package to the assigning editor as specified in the directions that accompany the contract. That includes 1) story text; 2) all fact-checking material; 3) names and complete and legible addresses of all story sources or participants who should receive complimentary copies of the issue featuring the story.
• Put themselves in the shoes of our fact checkers and think about what they need to do their job. Writers must not fail to include complete fact-checking material in the story package. This is mandatory for payment.
Such material includes but is not limited to: 1) names and contact points for all story sources and anyone quoted; 2) brochures and/or business cards showing up-to-date data pertinent to lodging and other referenced facilities; 3) restaurant menus if applicable; 4) photocopies of pages from historical documents, Web sites, or other information sources used.
• Submit an invoice along with the complete story package. The contract does not serve as an invoice.
PITCH STORIES TO:
(Homes & Gardens)
Abigail Millwood, associate homes editor abigail_millwood@timeinc.com;
205/445-6040
(Travel)
Larry Bleiberg, senior editor: larry_bleiberg@timeinc.com; 205/445-6294
(Lifestyle)
Sarah Brueggemann, lifestyle editor: sarah_brueggemann@timeinc.com;
205/445-8896
(Food & Entertaining)
Julia Rutland, senior editor foods & entertaining: julia_rutland@timeinc.com;
205/445-6053
Download this document (pdf).
Download our editorial calendar (pdf).
